Best Croquet Sets

Croquet (Kro-kay) is for everyone young and old; fancy and plain. One may think a perfectly manicured lawn and a precise wicket arrangement are necessary to play the game. Wrong. In fact, any front or back yard will suffice, and the wicket placement is completely up to the players. In further fact, much of the fun is plotting a new, never played before wicket course.

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Croquet plays at a great pace, allowing time in between turns for commentary, socialization and spectatorship. The rules bend and twist depending on the crowd, and there is plenty of opportunity for creating intense competition. Grudges will be formed and sides will be taken. Croquet demands hand eye coordination and basic knowledge of sporting rules. Oh, and wear shoes, not sandals. For when it comes time for a Croquet, toes and heels are in peril.

To be clear, Croquet does require a relatively recently cut lawn. We need to be able to see the wickets and the balls on the lawn. Wickets are the white wire arches in which croquet balls need to pass through. Your set will come with nine of these wickets, six mallets, six balls and two stakes. From here, the playing field is yours to create as you wish. Place one stake to mark the beginnig of play and another to mark the end. I love placing the nine wickets on the lawn while laying out the flow of the course. You may choose a straight forward, classic design or go all Myrtle Beach Mini Golf style and hide some wickets by the fence, under a bench and through the vegetable garden. Croquet is one of the few yard games that allow customization and creativity. Our courses usually involve wickets behind fire pits, detours into the neighbors yard, and of course, ridiculous end stake placements. Whatever you choose, please pull up the wickets immediately after playing as to not mow them over next weekend.

Croquet sets

We will highlight the most loved, best reviewed croquet sets available; dispalyed throughout this page. I cannot stress enough the importance of durability when selecting a set. We’ve researched these sets for years and only recommend quality product. Both the malletts and croquet balls take a beating during play. I recommend resin built balls over plastic and long handled malletts over short sticks. Be sure to find a set with rubber mallett ends and pliable wickets as well. Playing with hard resin croquet balls ensure they will not be sliced by fences, rocks, and the malletts themselves. The plastic balls are not only smaller and lighter, but fade in the sun and are prone to cracks & subsequently lopsided rolls. Long handled malletts are in the traditional style. They allow for more controlled shots and are less taxing on the bending of your back. Adults will appricaite your commitment to quality malletts. Playing Croquet sometimes calls for a heavy hand, so you want a mallett face that can withstand hard hits. The rubber faced mallett ends provide this and are replaceable if necessary. Here are our best 5 Croquet sets.

Your set will naturally come with the classic course layout and rules of play. Should you have the yard space to accommodate the official course layout, I highly recommend it. Playing the suggested course can be as rewarding as laying down your own. Knowing that that course is used in tournament play across the world will make you feel special and you might take it more seriously.

Croquet Lawn Accessories

All the sets we've featured have pretty much everything you need to enjoy the sport. During my games I like having beverage holders placed near wickets, a bluetooth speaker playing cool tunes, and a rubber mallet for the start and finish stake installs.